Rutina Wesley is joining the force.
The True Blood favorite has been tapped to be one of the four leads in ABC's cop drama pilot Broad Squad, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The drama, inspired by true stories, follows the first four women to graduate from Boston's Police Academy in 1978.
See more The Faces of Pilot Season 2015
Wesley will play Joanne, one of four women. Guarded, professional and private about her personal life (largely because she's gay), the character has high standards — mostly
because she feels she needs to. As a black woman she knows she has to work harder and be better than everyone in the department. Raised in a tough Boston neighborhood, she's seen her share of violence. But she's worked hard to get where she is, going after her convictions, her strength challenged by the realities of the political landscape.
The role was scripted for an African-American and comes as diverse casting has been a major trend among the broadcast networks this pilot season.
See more The Faces of Pilot Season 2015
The role marks Wesley's follow-up to her seven-season role as Tara on HBO's vampire drama True Blood, where she also had lesbian story lines. She's repped by Inspire Entertainment and Stone Meyer.
Wesley joins a cast that also includes Charlotte Spencer and Cody Horn, who play two of the other cops in the drama.
Bess Wohl (CSI: NY) will pen the script for the ABC Studios and Fake Empire drama. Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein and Aaron Kaplan will exec produce.
Coky Geirdroyc will direct the pilot.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
